I tried to book my seats online but had a few problems so I rang and booked them over the phone with no problem whatsoever and received email confirmation immediately roll on Feb

Its always worth calling about 95-92 days out sometimes the maps open early. Thats why the seats are sometiems gone at T90.

Its also always worth asking the travel agents/ call centre to put a request like i.e. "request seats 1A/B etc"
it sometimes works.

my travel agent was next to useless when i asked advice regarding choosing seats.she insisted the flight plan would not open until 90 days before the return flight, we are on holiday for 2 weeks so when i pointed out those going for 1 week would have the choice of seats on the outbound flight she just shrugged and told me thats the way it is!
thanks in part to reading this forum i managed to choose outbound seats 105 days before the return flight.

Your travel agent wasn't wrong. Often you can't book your seats until 90 days before your return flight, as stipulated by Thomsons. It depends on who you talk to when you ring. The people that work in flight extras should all be singing from the same hymn sheet though. Some will let you book your outbound at 90 days and you have to ring back for the inbound. Some won't let you book anything until 90 days before your inbound, and some will let you book both at 90 days prior to the outbound No wonder people are confused.

That last time I booked mine the plans weren't loaded at 9am 90 days prior to my outbound. I rang later and the lady I spoke to did let me book seats for both flights, although I know people on the same flight couldn't book anything until 90 days before their inbound, and some were allowed to split and book outbound at 90 and inbound at 90!!

i agree sunaddict they should all sing from the same hymn sheet but obviously they dont which makes it unfair for the folk who dont know its possible to choose seats earlier than the 90 days before the home flight.
in my case the travel agent was wrong because i booked 105 days before the return flight, if i had waited until i received the e-mail its very possible i would not have got the seats i chose in premium cabin, reading other forums they seem popular seats.
previous holidays short and mid haul the flight plan has usually opened on line before i received the e-mail but with lots of seats to choose from i havent been so bothered about phoning early to choose

Where my annoyance is that the tickets clearly state "your seat is reserved in premium". That at best is giving a false sense of security? I have questioned Thomson and I have been told that it's not the seat but it's your "place in premium" that has been reserved. They also state that it's on a first come first served basis, I booked over 7 months ago for two people sharing the same surname.

I have yet to come across anybody that books a holiday for a married couple and actively seeks seats apart (be careful here posters your wives may be reading)

I know this has most likely been played out hundreds of times but it's that "your seats are reserved" on my tickets that has got my goat.

Thomson reply just keeps changing this term I use to "place in premium" which I reminded them I know I am in premium I have paid over £500 extra for it.

They have kindly pointed out all others parties failings in this though...3rd party booking agent etc etc... that's convienient it seems.

That said Thomson have given me some help.

They have offered that I can give up our premium seats if we wish, no money will be refunded though!

They must have some youngster smurking when they wrote that.

sleeper. have they not given you seats next to each other? i was told when booking we would be guaranteed seats together, they did say that could mean sitting across the aisle from each other though.
.

Hi

No as we were unaware that you had to "pick" your seats. If yu know about it it would not be a problem but our tickets said your "seats" are reserved in premium class. I object to the false security that gives you, as it's not your seat as a couple it's just a seat anywhere in that plane.

It transpires that you can phone them up in X amount of day's to choose then after another x amount of day's you can do it online. The customer service centre also told me the wrong info regarding this as they say it is available at the same time.

I know there is nothing I can do now I just feel more annoyed with the type of replies they give. You can give up your £500 seats if you want but we will not be giving you your money back for them.

As I work in retail it's just not what we train staff to say.

I may have an extra drink on board just to make up for it!

sorry to hear that sleeper, majority of people dont want to fly long haul sat seperate from their family/companion.
i was told by travel agent when booking the holidayi would receive e-mail 90 days before return flight to inform me flight plan is open and to choose seats. they also guaranteed i would be sat with my friend i am travelling with.
sounds like you were let down with info when you booked your holiday.
not a very helpful reply you received either i would be to put it mildly not too pleased with the response.
i hope you enjoy your holiday, when do you travel?

Oh no doubting we will enjoy the holiday.

Yes just let down by not just one party and I have to shoulder blame a touch I guess. The only person to bear the cost though is me.

You live and learn.

We go on 29th Jan. can't wait.

Anybody on that flight want to swap......now don't all shout at once.

jhe wrote:

sleeper. have they not given you seats next to each other? i was told when booking we would be guaranteed seats together, they did say that could mean sitting across the aisle from each other though.
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You are not guaranteed seats together, even when you prebook seat numbers, as no airline will guarantee seats numbers. The premium upgrade cost includes choosing your seats at no extra cost. If you don't choose them, or you choose them very late, you could be sat separately anywhere in the premium cabin.

Hey Sunaddict

And so it came to pass.....but I could always give up my seats in premium and have no money back!

Sleeper wrote:

Hey Sunaddict

And so it came to pass.....but I could always give up my seats in premium and have no money back!

I hope you still have a great holiday despite your seating arrangements.

Cheers

We intend on doing that thanks, do taxi drivers in Goa guarantee your seating I wonder?..MMmmmm

I hope this just helps others remember this when booking.

Sunaddict wrote:

jhe wrote:

sleeper. have they not given you seats next to each other? i was told when booking we would be guaranteed seats together, they did say that could mean sitting across the aisle from each other though.
.

You are not guaranteed seats together, even when you prebook seat numbers, as no airline will guarantee seats numbers. The premium upgrade cost includes choosing your seats at no extra cost. If you don't choose them, or you choose them very late, you could be sat separately anywhere in the premium cabin.

my travel agent misinformed me then, she said we would guaranteed to be sat together but did stress that could be aisle seats if we did not choose ourselves,

jhe wrote:

Sunaddict wrote:

jhe wrote:

sleeper. have they not given you seats next to each other? i was told when booking we would be guaranteed seats together, they did say that could mean sitting across the aisle from each other though.
.

You are not guaranteed seats together, even when you prebook seat numbers, as no airline will guarantee seats numbers. The premium upgrade cost includes choosing your seats at no extra cost. If you don't choose them, or you choose them very late, you could be sat separately anywhere in the premium cabin.

my travel agent misinformed me then, she said we would guaranteed to be sat together but did stress that could be aisle seats if we did not choose ourselves,

Definitely misinformed, but then I'm not surprised. Travel agents are woefully lacking in product knowledge - unfortunately. Not usually short of sales training though.

yes as i mentioned in an earlier post my travel agency has not been the best (not just concerning premium seats) i usually book at a small local thomson travel agents who go out of their way to be helpful, this time i booked at a large could be classed as a travel superstore, only popped in twice to ask info but getting past reception who should have been able to answer my queries but didnt seem interested, to speak to a ta was a feat in itself,
at least i know where to book my next holiday.

I hate to say this and I know i cannot post the emails from Thomson but it was no surprise to read "they say they only "guarantee" seats together if we book in advance via the website.

That also is a Thomson customer service advisor again using terminology that is wrong and at best misleading, and that is why I am at the stage I am at although as stated it's only me bearing the cost of the misleading statements. That is what seems unfair.